Villa Russiz
Villa Russiz has a century-old history founded on the love of Elvine Ritter von Zahony and Theodor Karl Leopold Anton de La Tour en Voivrè and their passions: philanthropy and wine. In February 1868, the Gorizian noblewoman marries the count of the ancient French noble family, bringing as her dowry the Friulian Villa, in the municipality of Capriva. Theodor was an expert agronomist and immediately perceives the precious potential of the area for high-quality wine production. Located indeed among the Friulian hills, the vineyards enjoy a particular soil, the ponca, and an optimal microclimate, the result of the meeting from above of cold winds coming from the Julian Alps with the temperate breezes from the Adriatic Sea below.
It is thus decided by the count to apply the cultivation techniques learned in France to the Collio area, as well as for the first time to import, hidden in the beautiful bouquets of flowers gifted to his wife, the cuttings of the French varieties. This magnificent intuition is the origin of the long success of French vines in the northern and eastern Italy, a success that will reach even the Russian Empire, where the wine from Villa Russiz becomes the first on the tables of the tsar's Hermitage. Alongside her husband's passion for wine, Elvine dedicates herself to a philanthropic project, focused on hospitality and helping poor children.
After the count's death, the management of Villa Russiz passes to his nephew Rudolf von Gall, only to be interrupted in 1915 due to the outbreak of the Great War: while Rudolf is exiled to imprisonment in Sardinia, the Villa becomes a military base. Today, wine production has returned to being one of the cornerstones of Collio wines, maintaining the characteristics of elegance, finesse, minerality, and extreme pleasantness dictated by Theodor, allocating the proceeds to the Casa Famiglia for the protection of childhood, a foundation dating back to Elvine's work.
Villa Russiz has a century-old history founded on the love of Elvine Ritter von Zahony and Theodor Karl Leopold Anton de La Tour en Voivrè and their passions: philanthropy and wine. In February 1868, the Gorizian noblewoman marries the count of the ancient French noble family, bringing as her dowry the Friulian Villa, in the municipality of Capriva. Theodor was an expert agronomist and immediately perceives the precious potential of the area for high-quality wine production. Located indeed among the Friulian hills, the vineyards enjoy a particular soil, the ponca, and an optimal microclimate, the result of the meeting from above of cold winds coming from the Julian Alps with the temperate breezes from the Adriatic Sea below.
It is thus decided by the count to apply the cultivation techniques learned in France to the Collio area, as well as for the first time to import, hidden in the beautiful bouquets of flowers gifted to his wife, the cuttings of the French varieties. This magnificent intuition is the origin of the long success of French vines in the northern and eastern Italy, a success that will reach even the Russian Empire, where the wine from Villa Russiz becomes the first on the tables of the tsar's Hermitage. Alongside her husband's passion for wine, Elvine dedicates herself to a philanthropic project, focused on hospitality and helping poor children.
After the count's death, the management of Villa Russiz passes to his nephew Rudolf von Gall, only to be interrupted in 1915 due to the outbreak of the Great War: while Rudolf is exiled to imprisonment in Sardinia, the Villa becomes a military base. Today, wine production has returned to being one of the cornerstones of Collio wines, maintaining the characteristics of elegance, finesse, minerality, and extreme pleasantness dictated by Theodor, allocating the proceeds to the Casa Famiglia for the protection of childhood, a foundation dating back to Elvine's work.
